Serial explosions in Manipur, bombs recovered in Assam

IMPHAL/GUWAHATI - Serial blasts rocked India’s restive northeastern state of Manipur Monday, injuring two police commandos and two civilians, while security forces in adjoining Assam arrested a militant and seized two powerful bombs ahead of the Republic Day.

A police spokesperson said three blasts rocked Manipur in a space of just 20 minutes - two explosions in capital Imphal around 7.30 p.m. Monday close to a police commando housing complex and another at Nambol town in Bishenpur district, 20 km from the capital.

“The twin blasts took place adjacent to the police commando housing complex. Both were powerful improvised explosive devices and two security personnel were injured,” a senior police official said.

Another blast rocked a market place in Nambol, injuring two civilians.

Police are unwilling to name any militant group behind the three attacks in the state of 2.4 million people which also is home to about 20 rebel groups.

In Assam, police late Monday seized a 10-kg bomb packed in a sack from a passenger bus in Dhubri district, 310 km west of the state’s main city Guwahati.

In another search operation, a bomb concealed in a polythene bag was recovered from a roadside in the eastern town of Moran.

“Militants were desperately trying to stage attacks ahead of the Republic Day, but so far their attempts were being foiled with alert security personnel on their toes,” Assam Inspector General of Police G.P. Singh said.

Security forces early Monday arrested a most wanted bomber of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Prithvi Raj Rabha, in Assam’s Goalpara district, about 130 km west of here.

“The arrest was made based on specific inputs that Rabha was planning to enter the area from adjoining Meghalaya to carry out some violent attacks,” another senior police official said.

A large haul of explosives and ammunition was made from the arrested ULFA bomber, the police said.

Meanwhile, a massive security alert was sounded across Assam and other northastern states with police, paramilitary, and army soldiers deployed in vulnerable areas like oil installations, road and rail bridges, besides crowded marketplaces.

The intelligence reports come at a time when five separatist guerrilla groups in the northeast called a 17-hour general strike to boycott the Republic Day.

These are the the outlawed ULFA, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), fighting for a separate homeland comprising parts of western Assam and northern West Bengal, the Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF), an umbrella organisation of several Manipuri rebel groups, and the Tripura People’s Democratic Front (TPDF).

These groups are active in Assam, Manipur and Tripura.

As part of the boycott call Jan 26, the militant groups have called for a general strike from 1 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Militant groups in the northeast have for years boycotted national events to protest New Delhi’s rule over the region.

On Sunday, militants blew up a railway track in Assam’s Dhemaji district, while security forces gunned down two NDFB militants.

“We have mobilized troops in vulnerable areas to foil any militant attacks,” a Manipur police official said.

Similar security alerts were sounded in Tripura and Meghalaya as well.